Mario Balotelli had a clause in his contract at Liverpool which stated he’d earn an extra £1m per season every time he finished a campaign with less than three red cards, reports the Times.
Specifically, this only counted for red cards for violent behaviour, spitting on someone, insulting or abusive language/gestures, or any dissent by word or action.
Balotelli only had one full season with us, where he would have earned this bonus – which seems very easy to collect. Two red cards for spitting at someone, and the Italian would have still got a £1m ‘good behaviour’ reward. That’s madness.
The 26-year-old forward spent the second season of his Liverpool career on loan to AC Milan, and we finally offloaded him permanently this summer just gone, to Nice in Ligue 1.
Here, he’s pulling up trees for the surprise leaders.
This though is probably because he’s found his level, as he’s the antipathy of a Jurgen Klopp striker and would not have done anything under the German if he’d remained.